harrison



Paiented Oct. II, 898.

J. HARRISON.

FEED MECHANISM FOR BALL SOBTING MACHINES.

(Application filed Dec. 24, 1897.)

V 3 Shee(s$heet r.

(No Model.)

INVENTOR fixw WITNESS ES as 00. Pmmxuma. \vmmnmon. n. c.

No. 612,338. Patented Oct. ll, I898.

J. HARRISON.

FEED MECHANISM FOR BALL somms MACHINES.

(Apylication filed Dec. 94, 1897.)

3 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

I N VENTOR WITNESSES.

Patented Oct. ll, I898.

J. HARRISON.

FEED MECHANISM FOR BALL SORT-ING MACHINES.

(Application filed Dec. 24, 1897.]

3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

{No Model.)

INVENTOR WITNESSES 1m: "cams PETERS on, pnofoumo. msumcmn. n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HARRISON, OF ASTON, ENGLAND.

FEED MECHANISM FOR BALL-SORTING MACHINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 612,338, dated October 11, 1898. Application filed December 24, 1897. Serial No. 663,428 (No model.) Patented in England March 13, 1897, No. 6,597. 7

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN HARRISON, manufacturer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Kensington street, Aston, near the city of Birmingham, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in FeedMechanism for Ball-Sorting Machines, of which the following is a specification, and for which invention I have obtained Letters Patent of Great Britain, dated the 13th day of March, 1897,- No. 6,597.

This invention relates to feed mechanism of machines used for the sorting of steel balls employed in antifriction-bearings, but which machines are applicable to the sorting of other metallic balls and spheres for various purposes.

The object of my invention is a simple and efficient automatic feed which shall not be liable, as is common with ordinary feeds, to cause the balls to jamb or stick,the'reby blocking and interfering with the regular movement of the machine.

Figure l of the accompanying drawings represents in elevation a steel-ball sorting or gaging machine provided with an automatic ball-feed constructed and arranged according to my invention. Fig. 2'is a top side plan of the same. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of Fig. 2, taken upon the dotted line w, showing the rocking feed-plate at the upper limit of its stroke, while Fig. 4 is a like section as Fig. 3, but the feed-plate is shown at the opposite end of its stroke or in its fully-lowered position. This last view also represents the gear ing by which the said rocking feed-plate is raised and lowered. Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the feed-plate separately, and Fig. 6 a top edge view of the same, while Fig. 7 is a vertical section, upon an enlarged scale, of a part of the edge of the said plate.

The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings.

The feed mechanism represented in the said figures consists, essentially, of a rising-and falling or rocking quadrant or plate at, having along its top edge a a channel, groove, or gutter a of rather a less breadth than the balls to be fed to the sorting-machine. This plate is carried by an arm a pivoted at a to a bracket 1), bolted to the base-framin g, and is d is presented to or comes over the inclined sorting-rolls 1Z Thus the rising-and-falling quadrant-plate is carried by the lever or arm a which is jointed to the upright b of a part of the supporting-framing of the feed, and the rising-and-falling gutter preferably works through a gap f in the bottom of a tray g, supported by standards g and with the halves g g of the same inclining slightly downward toward the said slot, so that the balls in the sides of the tray tend to rolltoward each other by gravity on the gutter edge of the plate, which rises and falls between the said halves, dropping below the normal levelv of the bottom of the said tray. This rocking or rising-and-falling movement is given to the feed-plate by a jointed arm or connectinglink h, pivoted to the cranked end k of the shaft h supported by the brackets 7L and having at one end a large toothed wheel 71,

meshing with a wheel 1' upon the end of the shaft 2' of one roll 2' of the pair of separated and inclined sorting-rolls r1 1", coupled by spur gear-wheels at the other end, so as to revolve in opposite directions,and with a driving-pulley 2' or equivalent attached to the spindle i of the other roll 2', the whole being mounted in the bolsters or carriers, and with a partitioned box or trough arranged below them and into which the sorted balls drop, owing to the gaging space between the rolls being wider at the after end than at the feed end.

Operation: Assuming that the sorting-rolls are in operation, the shafth and crank 71 are rotated, and their movement is transmitted through the connecting-link h to the feedplate a, which is rocked about the pivot a and the gutter or grooved edge is lowered below the level of bottom of the tray, and immediately the balls close up or run together into the space vacated by the feedplate, and a series or line of them is thus brought over the groove in the said feed-plate, which is then raised, more at the back than at the front, and lifts bodily with it the row of balls, which are carried above'thefplane of the tray, until the groove or gutter comes level with the feedgutter d and inclines to such an angle that the gravitation of the balls overcomes the frictional adhesion between them and the sides of the gutter, when they run down and into the fixed groove and thence to the feed-pipe. Then while the plate is again descendinga slight pause occurs in the feeding, during which the row of balls last fed are being sorted out by the rollers. The grooved plate then, as it again rises, takes up another row of balls, and the action is repeated.

I wish it to be understood that I do not confine myself to the particular arrangement herein described for imparting the alternate rising-and-falling and angular or tipping movement to the grooved plate, as any wellknown mechanical means may be employed for this purpose, such as a rising-and-falling tipping plate, raised first vertically and then inclined or tipped, or the fore end of a lever connected at the other end to the said plate may constantly press upon or follow the curved surface or edge periphery of a cam or squash plate, or may work within the groove of a box-cam or like mechanical device driven by gearing preferably from the gaging-rolls. Instead of employing a rocking plate working between the edges of fixed guide-plates, as described, I may employ a radially-moving bar or equivalent grooved or having a gutter along its top edge and being pivoted at one end to the framing or suitable sup port, while the other end or a suitable part works in guides, and instead of I the ball-feeding plate or bar working through a gap in the lowest part of an inclined-bottomed tray it may work between the edges of two sideby-side and inclined trays or plates. In-

stead of the plate making a rising-and-falling movement for taking a series of balls from a horizontal to an inclined position and tipping them down the feed-pipe the said plate may be stationary and with an inclined gutter edge and the trays may be arranged to rise and fall, or instead of the plate being hinged and moving quadrantally it may rise and fall vertically, but in this case the guttered top edge of the same would be inclined to the same degree as the bottom of the tray in which the balls rest.

Having fully described my invention, what I desire to claim and secure by Letters Patent is- 1. In a feed mechanism for ball sorting and gaging apparatus, the combination with a tray having surfaces which are downwardly inclined toward a slot in said tray of a width less. than the diameter of the balls to be sorted, of a quadrant-plate provided with a channel in its upper edge and having an arm by which itis pivoted to a rigid support, a raceway for the quadrant-plate formed by the curved edges of two guide-plates which pass through the tray at the ends of the slot, one of said guide-plates being provided with an inclined gutter in its upper end, and means for reciprocating said quadrant-plate in the raceway to carry its channeled upper edge below the surface of the tray and then raise it above the same into an inclined position and in alinement with the inclined gutter in the end of the guide-plate, substantially as described.

2. In a feed mechanism for a ball sorting and gaging apparatus, the combination with a tray having surfaces which incline downward to a slot having a width less than the diameter of the balls, of a quadrant-plate having a channel in its upper edge and pivoted by an arm forming part of said plate so as to move vertically in the plane of said slot in a raceway formed by the curved edges of guide-plates which pass through the tray at the ends of the slot, one of said guide-plates having a gutter in its inclined upper edge leading to a chute for the balls, and sortingrolls one of which is provided with a crank on its shaft connected by a pitman to the quadrant-plate, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN HARRISON. Witnesses:

HENRY SKERRETT, WILLIAM H. LONG. 

